History on Cavs side with Kevin Love trade

For the Cavaliers, adding a signature piece to the cast for James was a no-brainer.

By Special to the UT, Ivan Carter
| 12:36 p.m.Aug. 23, 2014

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2012, file photo, Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, left, and Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah battle for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers completed a blockbuster trade sending Love to team up with LeBron James in Cleveland for 2014 No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, a person familiar with the trade said. The Timberwolves are getting Wiggins and former top pick Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and veteran forward Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia. The 76ers get a 2015 first-round draft choice from Cleveland, and guard Alexey Shved and forward Luc Mbah a Moute from Minnesota. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
The Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2012, file photo, Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, left, and Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah battle for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers completed a blockbuster trade sending Love to team up with LeBron James in Cleveland for 2014 No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, a person familiar with the trade said. The Timberwolves are getting Wiggins and former top pick Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and veteran forward Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia. The 76ers get a 2015 first-round draft choice from Cleveland, and guard Alexey Shved and forward Luc Mbah a Moute from Minnesota. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

A deal that was in the works throughout the 'Summer of LeBron James' was ultimately finalized Saturday with the Cavaliers acquiring Kevin Love as the key piece in a three-team deal which sent No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins to Minnesota along with 2013 first-overall pick Anthony Bennett.

For the Cavaliers, a franchise which has never captured a title and is on a two-year clock to win as much as possible before James can sign a new contract in Cleveland or elsewhere, this was an absolute no-brainer.

Former Chicago Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause is often mischaracterized as having once said “organizations win championships.” What Krause actually said was, “Players and coaches alone don’t win championships, organizations win championships.”

Krause was right. And many of them did it by trading for a star player in his prime.

In 1995, Dennis Rodman was a freak show channeling Wesley Snipes with a goofy blonde hairdo while playing for the ultra-conservative Spurs. Krause and the Bulls pounced, landing one of the greatest rebounders and defenders in NBA history in exchange for Will Perdue and cash.

With Rodman doing the dirty work, like defending Shawn Kemp and Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen added three more rings to their fingers between 1995-96 and 1997-98 while playing some of the most beautifully dominant hoops we’ve ever seen.

In 2007, Kevin Garnett was much like Love: playing superstar level basketball with a floundering Timberwolves franchise. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge worked a deal with his former teammate Kevin McHale - then the Wolves GM - and landed one of the best big men in NBA history for a package which included Al Jefferson and spare parts.

The Celtics, who also picked up Ray Allen from Seattle that summer, went on to win an NBA title and play for another with Garnett in the green and white.

In 2008, Pau Gasol was an All-Star talent stuck on a Memphis Grizzlies team which was good but in no way set up to ever break through the talent-packed Western Conference. In stepped the Lakers, who acquired Gasol for a package which included his younger brother, Marc.

With a skilled big man who could pass, score and rebound, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers rolled to a pair of championships.

There are plenty of other examples of teams making a championship run after acquiring a star player but all you really need to know about Cleveland’s move is this: with Love joining James and Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers instantly have a better “big three” then James had in Miami and, the fact that Love is only 26-years old gives them a chance to build a dynasty.

Forget chatter about Love not being good enough to win in Minnesota. Prince couldn’t have made that supporting cast look good, even with pancakes. We’re talking about a franchise that drafted Jonny Flynn, Wesley Johnson and Derrick Williams when Stephen Curry, Paul George and Klay Thompson were available and couldn’t complement Love with a second All Star.

In other words, a player of Love’s caliber was about as useful in Minnesota as a surfboard.

Love is the only player in NBA history to go over 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 100 3-pointers in a single-season and the analytics crowd understands that in terms of the formula called wins-share (a measurement of an individual’s overall contribution to wins and losses), Love ranked behind only James and Kevin Durant last season at 14.3.

Love is not a great one-on-one defender and I block shots better than he does, but he is a mad dog on the boards and throws the nicest outlet pass we’ve seen since Larry Bird was doing his thing.

I predict this Cavs team to win around 65 games during the regular season and come playoff time, ask yourself this: who is going to beat James, Love and Irving four times out of seven? We’re looking at a Cavaliers/Spurs Finals and some very fun basketball.